On 6th June 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Chenab Rail Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir. The moment marked more than the unveiling of the highest single-arch railway bridge in the world, it was part of the project that finally connected Kashmir to the rest of India by rail, it made Kashmir to Kanyakumari a reality for Indian Railways as well. It also stood as a quiet but profound tribute to the geotechnical engineering professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, who spent 17 years guiding the construction through every natural challenge. The name of the professor is Dr G Madhavi Latha.
The Chenab Rail Bridge stands at 358 metres above the riverbed. Towering 35 metres above the Eiffel Tower, it is 1,315 metres long. It links Katra with Qazigund as part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project. The bridge has a lifespan of 120 years. The total cost of building the bridge came out to be Rs 1,486 crore. It is not an ordinary project and has been described by the government as the most formidable civil engineering challenge in Indian Railway history.
Dr Latha stands at the heart of the project.
Designing in real time amid fractured rocks and fierce winds
Dr Latha is an expert in rock engineering. She was brought on board by Northern Railways and Afcons Infrastructure to tackle the most complex issue of the Chenab Bridge, that is, building a foundation strong enough to survive steep Himalayan slopes, high seismic activity, wind speeds up to 260 KMPH, and extreme geological surprises.
Dr Latha’s team pioneered a “design-as-you-go” approach. They constantly innovated on site to address hidden cavities, fractured rock, changing rock properties, and hydrological hazards. Such a working style is adopted by few mega-projects of this scale.
In her landmark paper ‘Design as You Go: The Case Study of Chenab Railway Bridge’, Dr Latha wrote, “Construction of a civil engineering marvel like the Chenab bridge posed many challenges from planning to completion. A rigid design with fixed dimensions and pre-determined solutions would not have been feasible.”
Dr Latha’s team contributed to slope stability analysis, foundation designs, and slope stabilisation techniques. This included cement grouting and installation of tens of thousands of metres of rock anchors. These anchors ensured the massive steel arch would stand firm even under the most adverse conditions, despite the fact that for half of the kilometre, this arch has no support.
Engineering journey rooted in excellence
Dr G Madhavi Latha completed her BTech from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in 1992 and graduated with distinction. She secured a gold medal in MTech from NIT Warangal. Later, she did her PhD in geotechnical engineering from IIT-Madras in 2000. She joined IIT Guwahati as a professor and taught there till 2004 before joining IISc.
Dr Latha is currently serving as Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) professor in the Civil Engineering department and Chair of the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc. Her research includes sustainable soil reinforcement, earthquake geotechnical engineering, and macro and micro-level geomechanics.
She has received several prestigious awards, including the Prof SK Chatterjee Outstanding Researcher Award at IISc, the Woman Achiever award by Karnataka Book of Records, the SERB POWER fellowship, and the Best Woman Researcher in Geotechnical Engineering by the Indian Geotechnical Society in 2021. In 2022, she was listed among the Top 75 Women in STEAM fields in India.
Breaking ground as the first woman faculty at IISc’s civil department
When Dr Latha joined IISc, she was the only woman faculty member in the Civil Engineering department. Her first battle was not over lectures or laboratories but exclusive toilets for women. The IISc website quotes her saying, “Back then, there were no exclusive toilets for women in the department. I had to really fight to get a women’s toilet in the geotechnical engineering building.”
Her efforts resulted in bringing a more inclusive environment to the department. Today, she notes, the gender ratio is nearly 40 to 60. She takes conscious steps to support female students, including assigning helpers during physically demanding experiments. She says, “Being a woman, I make sure I understand what they need.”
A nation’s pride, a professor’s legacy
Dr Latha is the nation’s pride. Following the bridge’s inauguration, IISc acknowledged her contribution on social media and stated, “We are proud of Prof Madhavi Latha & her team’s contribution to the Chenab Bridge inaugurated by Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi. The team worked on stability of slopes, design & construction of foundations, design of slope stabilisation systems, incl. rock anchors to withstand hazards.”
We are proud of Prof Madhavi Latha & her team’s contribution to the #ChenabBridge inaugurated by Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi
The team worked on stability of slopes, design & construction of foundations, design of slope stabilisation systems incl. rock anchors to withstand hazards. pic.twitter.com/BApCSJTRZX— IISc Bangalore (@iiscbangalore) June 6, 2025
Economist and author Sanjeev Sanyal posted, “Madhavi Latha, one of the awesome engineers who helped build the Chenab bridge. She began looking at the issue 17 years ago! The bridge has four times the steel of the Eiffel Tower.”
Madhavi Latha, one of the awesome engineers who helped build the Chenab bridge. She began looking at the issue 17 years ago!! The bridge has four times the steel at the Eiffel Tower – held together in a mountainous, earth-quake prone zone. https://t.co/zS4rQzhf3r
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) June 6, 2025
Chenab Rail Bridge defied conventional timelines, budget, and designs. Dr Madhavi Latha’s role was not only technical but symbolic. She represented grit, adaptation, and the relentless pursuit of nation-building through science.
